


Sideshow Secrets

by godtiermeme



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Great Depression, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Sburb, Human!Stuck, Humanstuck, I'm not sure how to classify this AU, M/M, albino!Karkat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-02
Updated: 2012-11-24
Packaged: 2017-11-15 11:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/526731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godtiermeme/pseuds/godtiermeme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat Vantas is a rebellious eighteen-year-old who, having successfully escaped his father's overbearing command, has decided to join the Circus. After jumping onto the train belonging to the Strider Company travelling circus, he forms a rather complicated relationship with a boy named Dave, the eventual heir of the company. Little do they know that they're both in for a wild adventure. (Takes place in a freaky, awkward combination of Great Depression era and modern era resulting from a failed and scrapped attempt to make this story steampunk.) Contains some mild sex scenes, but I don't think they actually qualify for a "Mature" rating...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Angry Clowns and Stowaways

**Author's Note:**

> I think I have too many ideas right now. Also, this is kind of a Great Depression era story with modern dialogue and very little historical grounds. I'm not exactly going for historical accuracy here... Sorry... Oops... And I've redesigned Karkat a bit from my original incarnation of him.

Your name is Dave Strider, and you’re the heir to the wildly successful Strider Company travelling circus. Unlike most kids your age, you don’t have a room; you have a freaking train car (complete with a private bedroom, work area, and miniature pull-out sofa). However, your life isn't perfect (although many people seem to think it is…). Your father was tragically killed in an incident involving a misplaced bowling pin; and, Bro – your primary caregiver since then – tends to disappear suddenly, leaving you to run the circus alone. Of course, you never really mind. After all, the Strider Company crew were pretty self-sufficient and you've never had to make a major executive decision alone.

At least… You haven’t until now…

_Thud._

A faint noise in the carriage housing the clowns (which is situated just behind your personal car) wakes you from your peaceful slumber. You frown and grab a flashlight before creeping cautiously to the back entrance to your train car. You press your ear against the door and listen intently to the sounds coming from the car. You don’t catch much, but you can tell that they’re pretty angry.

_Bang!_

You jump away from the door in shock. If you were a betting person (which, really, you totally are), you’d say that someone was being forcibly thrown around in there. This was quite unusual for the clowns. After all, they’re probably the most chill performers of them all (maybe because Gamzee, that weird new guy you picked up off the side of the street a few weeks ago, is feeding them what several other employees claim to be drug-stuffed pies…). After a moment of thought, you decide to see what they’re up to.

You jump the small gap between the train cars with considerable ease (which is to be expected from someone raised on trains) and, once you’re in front of the door, make sure to knock several times to alert them to your impending entry before you actually step inside. After all, it wasn't uncommon to see unruly workers hurling everything from darts to liquor bottles at the doors.

Once you determine the decreased noise level to be indicative of a relatively safe environment, you cautiously open the door and step inside. There, amongst the hay pile beds that the clowns insist on using (despite multiple attempts by both you and your Bro to get them to accept legitimate mattresses), you find something strange – or, rather, you find _someone_ strange.

You cautiously approach for a closer look. And, to your surprise, you find a boy around your age. His pale face is covered in blood from the clowns’ beating, and his pure white hair is matted together with sweat. He’s obviously confused, and you’re pretty sure that he’s in a fair bit of shock.

“Who the hell is this?” you mumble.

One of the older clowns steps forward to answer. “I'm not quite sure. He keeps insisting that he’s just here for a job…”

“But I am!” the newcomer yells in retaliation.

“Well… How old is he?”

“I’m right here, you know. And I’ve told you already: my name is Karkat Vantas. I'm eighteen, and I'm sick of living with my asshole of a father…”

The older clown silences Karkat with a kick to the gut. “I think we should throw him off.”

Your gaze darts back over to Karkat. Eighteen. He was your age, albeit a tad older… Nonetheless, it was quite possible that he was just here to sabotage the company. That’s happened plenty of times. You flick on the flashlight and point it towards him, noting that he lets forth a pained moan and covers his eyes when you do so. “I don’t think we should throw him off…” you mumble. “He seems to be pretty healthy and I’m pretty sure that a prize like him wouldn’t be thrown around by rival circuses…”

From the hay pile to your right, you can hear some incoherent blabbering about “motherglubbing miracles” and, while you usually take Gamzee’s opinions with a grain of salt, you have to admit that he’s actually making a bit of sense right now. The company has been going downhill, and you do need a new act. So, in a sense, you could say this extremely-out-of-the-ordinary guy _was_ a motherglubbing miracle… “What kind of things are you able to and willing to do?” you inquire.

He lowers his arm for a moment, only to immediately replace it as soon as the light hits his eyes. “Turn that damn thing off and I’ll tell you,” he mumbles.

You make a note of his aversion to light and do as he instructs before kneeling down next to him. He’s still covering his eyes, and you decide that (especially in light of his abuse at the hands of the unusually temperamental clowns) it’s best to use a more friendly approach. You set a gentle hand on his shoulder and, in the kindest voice you can muster, you continue the conversation. “It’s off. Now, I’d love to know what you’d be willing to do around here.”

His arm slowly lowers, revealing his red eyes, and he looks at you nervously. “I really don’t care what I have to do. Just don’t send me back to my father…” he mumbles.

You nod thoughtfully and begin to chew your lip. True, this kid could be a spy. But, from what you can tell, he seems pretty sincere. “Okay then,” you say quietly. “I’ll tell you what… I’ll give you a few weeks to show what you can do and, if I like it, I’ll let you stay.”

An unreasonable amount of disgust is expressed at your decision, but you ignore the jeers and threats. Instead of retaliating as you usually would, you keep your ‘nice guy’ act up and lead him out of the clown car and back into yours. Once you’re inside, you wander over to the desk and begin to look for a few things.

“For the first few weeks, I’ll let you sleep on the sofa in here, okay?” You’re careful to keep yourself sounding as casual as possible. You want to at least make it seem like you’re his friend. “It’ll be better that way. I’m pretty sure the clowns are off raging about this to everyone they can, and that won’t do much for your reputation…”

There! You found them! With a fair deal of careful force, you manage to pry your old shades from the desk. Aside from a few scratches, they’re in great shape. Satisfied by this find, you set them aside for later and return to shovelling through the junk. “And feel free to have a seat on the sofa or something. I don’t care.”

In the mirror, you notice him fumbling around quite a bit. His gaze seems slightly off, and you’re picking up on his anxious air. You abandon your plans to find the old vision test and wander over towards him. As you settle into the chair facing him, you notice that his eyes seem to be rapidly shaking back and forth. His gaze rarely stays on one thing, and he pointedly avoids meeting your gaze. “I think you’d benefit from these,” you mutter awkwardly. As you hand the sunglasses over, you begin to wonder if you’ve made the wrong business decision.

You watch nervously as he misjudges the distance between himself and the sunglasses, and his fingers close around empty air. He tries again, only to knock the sunglasses to the floor. You quickly pick them up before he can do any more damage and put them on his face for him.

“Sorry,” he mumbles under his breath.

“It’s… It’s perfectly fine,” you force yourself to say. You offer him a fake reassuring smile to mask your inner frustration. Sure, the guy was nice enough, and you really do what to help him. The problem is that he seems to be blinder than a bat and, as a result, is going to be a huge freaking liability. “And… Um… Are you sure you want to work with us? This is a pretty dangerous job, and you’ll need twenty-twenty—”

“I’ll do anything,” he interjects. “Please, just get me the hell away from my father.”

You let forth a nervous sigh. Bro really needs to be here… You’re not as tough as he is when it comes to important things like this; you don’t have the heart to throw Karkat off the train. But, if he doesn't go, you know someone else will… And if someone else goes, then there’ll be some irreparable damage in the relationship between you and most of the older members of the crew… You nervously chew your lip for a few minutes, carefully considering the options before finally letting your emotions take charge. “Fine,” you mumble reluctantly. “You can stay for a while. Just try not to get your hopes up…”

For the first time since you've seen him, Karkat smiles. “Thanks,” he mutters.

A shaky smile spreads across your face as you reply to him. “You’re welcome. I suggest you get some rest now… We’ll be setting up for a show tomorrow…”

He nods eagerly and settles down onto the sofa. You debate asking if he wants you to pull out the bed, but finally decide not to once you hear him snoring.

Before you retire to your own bed, you take one last look at him.You notice that he’s still wearing the shades you’ve given him; and, after making sure no one is watching, you kneel down in front of him and carefully remove them, placing them gingerly on the coffee table before you silently return to your own bed.


	2. The Zodiac Coin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat was only supposed to stay with the crew overnight. After that, Dave had planned to just let him go off on his own. However, after deeming him a harmless and possibly valuable addition, Dave refuses to fire him. He does, however, order him to stay inside the train car while the tent and booths are being set up, which leads to a few problems...

Everything was going great. You had everything control. And then you let him wander out of your view for two minutes. Two freaking minutes. Two!

“Karkat!” you yell into the stock car. Several animal heads peer curiously at you, but no human reply is audible. You move on, heading to dining car to check for him there.

“You’re looking for the new guy, aren’t you?”

You jump and let forth a shocked yelp before turning around to face Jade, a fellow animal keeper. “Dammit,” you grumble. “You can’t at least tell me when you’re coming around... And weren’t you just asleep?”

“I don’t think so,” she shrugs. She never remembers when she’s asleep. You swear, she could fall off a cliff in her sleep and wake up perfectly fine… “He’s pretty nice. Seems to really like obscenity, though…” As she’s speaking, you notice her fiddling with one of the many coloured bands she tends to keep on her fingers.

“Can you just skip ahead to the point?” you groan. While you do love a good talk with Jade, now is not the time. After all, you kind of just lost the guy who wasn’t even supposed to be here today. You were going to fire him, but he just seemed so relatively harmless that you didn’t see any problem in keeping him on the crew. Well… until now…

“I saw him running off that way,” Jade replies with a cheerful nod to the south. “He seems like your type, by the way.”

“Not even funny!” you call back in reply as you dart off in the direction she indicated.

A few minutes later, you finally find him leaning up against a crate of posters.

“I told you to stay with me,” you grumble irritably.

He looks up at you and lets forth a snort of scornful laughter. “What? You seem to think I’m a five-year-old or something. News flash, dumbass: I know how to keep myself out of shit.”

You nervously chew on your lip for a moment before deciding that the best way to solve this entire thing was to admit to your crime. “Well… Yeah… I guess so. But if you didn’t like it, you should have just told me that. You didn't have to make me flip my shit and think you’d just run off or absconded with possibly valuable crap.”

“Well thanks for the vote of confidence, you douchebag,” he grumbles.

You’re starting get kind of sick of his attitude. How could Jade even think that you’d get along with him? He just seems to be a huge asshole… “Well, if you’re going to take it that way, then you’re fucking welcome!” you exclaim indignantly. “If you’re just going to be an fucking killjoy all the time, then you can leave.”

“I’d be happy to go get a job with a rival company,” he replies with a confident smirk that tells you he knows what he’s doing.

You let forth a defeated snarl before shoving your hands into your pockets and turning your back on Karkat. There’s no way you were going to let your anger go to your head – that’s happened too many times. No. This time you were going to be better than that. You weren’t going to stoop down to that level of childish name-calling…

Instead of letting your emotions rule you – instead of just springing at the fight – you kick up a bit of dirt and actually think for a moment. There had to be a way you could fix this that didn't involve spitting out insults and punching this asshole in the face; and, surely enough, you finally manage to think of something. “We have a lot of free time right now. The tent’s set up and everyone’s ready for tomorrow in record time. How about I bring you into the ring and see if you can do anything of interest?”

He gazes at you with a look of confused shock. “You’re actually offering me a job?” he mumbles.

You shrug. “Why the hell wouldn't I?” Well… Aside from the fact that he’s really pissing you off right now…

“Fine then,” he mutters. “What exactly are you looking for?”

“Well, you've already got the looks to fit in with the regular crew without doing anything. Any neat tricks are just a bonus for us,” you reply casually. While you know that about seventy five percent of what you just said was more an insult than a compliment, you force yourself to keep going. There’s no time to step backwards and apologise for things. If you were, as you have always dreamed of, going to take this whole company to the next level, then you’d have to dish out some harsh realities… “If you don’t do anything extraordinary, we’ll probably stick you under the ten-in-one tent.”

“You mean a sideshow?” he mumbles dejectedly.

You swallow your emotions again. Bro’s always told you to just get the fuck over it when you felt like you were upsetting someone if it was for the benefit of the company and, if your intuition was right, getting Karkat on your crew would be a huge benefit. “Yes. You’d be in a sideshow. There’s no problem with that, either. It’s a perfectly respectable job. But, if you don’t want it, I can just offer it to some of the actual applicants.” (Okay… There are no applicants. But at least he looks pretty freaked out right now.)

Following a fair deal of thought, Karkat finally looks up and you and replies with the words you’d been longing to hear… “Fine. I’ll take the job.”

“Great.” You breathe a sigh of relief before sitting down next to him. Now that you know he’s on your side, you feel like you can probably take some time one-on-one with him (maybe try and get onto his better side). No one is around, after all, and he seemed to be in a fair mood now. “So… What do you think you’d be able to do?”

He shrugs and glances down at the ground. You notice that he’s fiddling around with a coin imprinted with the cancer zodiac sign. “I don’t do anything…” he mumbled.

“Of course you do,” you reassure him. You nervously put your hand on his shoulder, hoping he doesn’t turn around and snap your arm in half. To your shock, however, he seems to cheer up a bit at your touch.

“Well… I mean… I don’t have anything special. I just have this shitty little coin,” he murmurs as he flicks the coin into the air. The way he throws it causes it to spin rapidly in the air, reflecting the light with each turn. You notice that, behind the shades, his eyes seem to track the movement of the coin by watching the light reflecting off it and, seconds later, he easily catches it.

“Nice catch,” you say haphazardly. Your mind is already working on a plan rather than paying attention to anything else… You notice him replying, but never actually bother to listen to what he’s saying before you raise the vital question: “Do you happen to know how to juggle?”

Karkat shakes his head. “Nope. I’d be willing to learn how, though…”

You can’t stop yourself from letting a wide grin spread across your face. “Perfect.” You offer him your hand to help him up, only to almost be thrown on your face when he does accept the offer. However, you’re too excited to care about a matter as trite as that right now. After all, you _have_ just found someone who you think (you hope) is just crazy enough to help with a stunt you and Bro have been planning out…

“Why did you want to know that, anyhow?” Karkat asks as you begin to wander off.

“ We've been looking for another person willing to do a stunt we’re planning…” you reply carefully. While you do think that he’ll say yes, you’re also fairly certain that telling him that you’re sticking him on a horse and making him juggle at this very moment would be a very bad idea. For now, at least, you were just going to stick with telling him he would work with juggling…

“What exactly is the stunt, Sir Pretty-Damned-Vague?” he grumbles as he catches up with you.

“It’s still… We’re still developing it. Anyhow, that’s not the point. The point is that you’re hired and I do believe Gamzee would be perfectly willing to teach you how to –” Your sentence trails off into oblivion as you stick your head inside the clown car, only to find Gamzee high off his ass. As per usual, he’s spouting gibberish about ‘motherglubbing miracles’.

“Actually… On second thought… Maybe I should be the one to teach you…” As you’re speaking, you notice Karkat peering into the clown car. He immediately withdraws, however, and darts to your side.

You lead him down to the prop car and, after helping him in, motion for him to sit down while you begin rummaging through some of the old clown items. The only light in the car is that of a fading gas lamp.

“Why the hell did you ask me to juggle, anyhow? It’s not like I can catch anything before it hits me in the face,” Karkat points out.

Before you reply, you turn to look at him. You notice that he’s taken off his shades. “Well…” you say as you go back to looking through the dust-covered props, “You seemed to be able to catch that coin of yours pretty well.” As you finish speaking, your hand closes around an old juggling ball. You set this aside for later, and continue rummaging around.

“I just watched the light. It doesn't work unless it reflects light. So, really, I'm going to be a fucking terrible juggler,” Karkat points out.

“I have a plan for that,” you mumble as you find the last two juggling balls. “Anyhow, I have what we need from here. Everything else we’ll need is back in my office…” You quickly gather the three juggling balls (as well as three cracked juggling pins and a broken diablo) you've found and motion for him to follow as you hop out of the train car. You’re at least a good ten yards away from the car before you notice he’s no longer with you. You turn around to face the car, and notice him still standing inside.

He stumbles a bit, teetering on the edge of the train car exit as he slips his shades back on. Then, he looks at you apprehensively. After a moment of thought, he decides to sit down and dangle his legs until he hits solid ground. Once he’s found some static land, however, all hints of hesitancy fade.

Once he’s managed to catch up, both of you return to your train car, where you and him somehow end up talking for who-knows-how-long.. Much of it was insignificant… Actually… All of it was, but you enjoyed it nonetheless. In fact, when the bell rang to signify dinner time, neither of you budged. Instead, you continued your conversation. Neither you nor him get in bed until around midnight, and both of you quickly fall asleep…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this with what is probably one of my oddest playlists going. It starts with Homestuck (Volumes 1-5), transitions abruptly to Chameleon Circuit, fades horribly into Phantom, and ends with Les Misérables. Oops.


	3. Dusty the Horse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave decides that it's a brilliant idea to try and teach Karkat to ride a horse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really bad at naming chapters, okay!? And summaries. I don't do summaries well, either.

“SWEET MOTHERFUCKER!” Karkat yelps as he clings to the neck of the horse he’s riding.

“This is the slowest I can possibly make a horse walk, Karkat,” you grumble as you hold onto the horse’s lead. “You act like this is the end of the fucking world or something similar.”

“BECAUSE I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE FUCK THE GROUND IS,” replies a still-terrified Karkat.

You let forth an exasperated sigh before giving the horse a command to stop. Okay, thinking about it, it probably wasn’t the best idea to stick him on top of a horse on his third day. But, _looking_ at it, you can’t seem to figure out what the flying fuck the big deal is. Not only did you put him on a freaking _pony_ , butr you’ve also forced said pony to walk in circles at the slowest speed it can manage. “Okay. This is the fifth time I’ve stopped. Maybe I should just give up already.”

Karkat looks over at you and rolls his eyes. “Maybe you fucking should, you insufferable prick.”

You’re about to make a snappy reply when you notice him attempting to dismount. “Fuck. Dammit! I told you to wait until I came to help before you…”

 _Thud_. He lands on the rought dirt after a rather sloppy and (obviously) unsucessful debarking with a muffled moan.

“And this is why I told you to wait, you dumbass.” You can’t help but laugh a bit at his misfortune. After all, he had just called you a prick and disobeyed your rather important order to not get off of the horse without your help.

“Fuck you,” he groans as he staggers to his feet. “And fuck that horse.”

As if it undersands what Karkat had said, the horse swiftly flicks its tail in his face. You let forth another snort of laughter before rolling your eyes at both him and the horse. “While you may not like Dusty, I’m fairly certain that he’s fond of you.”

Karkat raises a brow and looks back at the horse before returning his gaze to you. “How the hell do you even have any idea that that’s the case?”

You reply with a shrug. “I don’t know. He just seems to like you.”

“Great, now I’m talking to a huge douchefondle _and_ a horse-whisperer,” huffs a rather agitated Karkat. He shoots you a death glare (which is actually a few inches off, though now would be a terrible time to point that out) before turning and storming off.

In reply, you simply shrug the incident off and chock it up to him being an irritable asshat. You silently gather the supplies you’d been using and put them back into the tack room. Afterwards, you give Dusty a much-needed brushing before deciding that it’s probably time to go and make sure Karkat’s sensibilities (or lack thereof) weren’t offended by this whole fiasco.

Just as you’re about to go and look for him, however, the dinner bell rings. You’re slightly shocked that it’s so late. However, that shock subsides when you smell the food. You immediately wander off to the pie-car. Once you arrive, you’re greeted to a rather lengthy line. Fortunately for you, being the heir to the company gives you some pretty awesome privileges (such as being able to forgo the line and just pick up a pre-prepared plate of some of the higher-quality food).

After eagerly scooping up your plate of steaming hot ham, you cast your gaze about the mess of tables. You notice that Bro (having returned earlier this morning) was waving for you to sit with him and Jade. You scurry over to the seat Bro saved for you (as per usual), making sure not to drop any of the precious ham on the way.

Once you sit down, Jade and Bro engage you in a lively conversation about odd topics which intermittently switch between things such as hand-sewn collector’s smuppets and sick beats to plants and squiddles. As you’re finishing up your meal, you casually bring up the subject of Karkat.

“Sounds like you have a crush on him,” Bro mumbles through a mouthfull of food.

“I do not like him. He’s an asshole,” you snap defensively.

Jade quickly (and fortunately) cuts you off before you can go on a tangent about Karkat being an unbearable jerk. “Actually, I don’t think he came to dinner.”

You frown. There’s no way you could have offended him badly… Is there? “Are you sure?”

“He’s new new guy, right? The one that I had to stop from going into the broken toilet earlier today?” queries Bro. “White hair, red eyes, sunglasses?”

“Yeah! Him!” you reply. You’re hoping that Bro’s reply will be something like ‘oh, of course he came to eat’ or whatever because, no matter how much of a prick he is, you’d still feel kind of bad if you actually did upset him that much…

“Yeah. I was walking to dinner when I noticed him moping around near the equestrian LQ.”

You look over at Bro and sigh. “I should probably go talk to him…” you mumble.

“I think you should take that last bit of ham with you,” Jade recommends.

You stare at her in shock for a few minutes before letting forth a defeated sough. Aside from you and Bro, only a select few people ever ate meals like yours – the finer meals on the train. As much as you hated to admit it, giving him that last hunk of ham would probably cheer him up a bit. “Fine,” you grumble as you snatch up the plate and wander down to the equestrian area.

Once you arrive, you notice a rather abject-looking Karkat sitting in the corner of the room. He’s dimmed most of the lights, leaving only that really creepy horse head light that Equius (the long-time strong man for the ten-in-ones) had purchased for his own room (and later gave to the equestrian crew after acquiring a vastly more disturbing version with glowing eyes). You nervously wander over and sit down next to him. As soon as you take a seat beside him, you realise that he smells like smoke. A glance at his lap quickly reveals the source of the stench: a pack of cheap-looking cigars.

“Oh,” he grumbles after a few minutes of awkward silence. “You’re here. What the fuck do you want?” He pushes his shades down a bit to look at you before returning them to their original position on the bridge of his nose.

“I just came here to say that you missed dinner and… Well… Did I offend you or something recently?” you mutter.

“No, not really,” he grumbles. “I just wanted to be alone.”

“So that means you want me to leave?”

“Indeed it does, you vile pile of shit,” Karkat snaps in reply.

You nod and set the plate down on the table in front of him. “Well… In case you wanted something to eat… I brought you some of my food…” After setting down the dish, you turn and silently slip outside of the cart. “Oh… And the offer to sleep in my LQ is still open… If you want it. I’ll be waiting, I guess,” you haphazardly mutter before shutting the door.

Once the door is shut tightly, you release a perturbed sigh and wander back to your private living quarters. You don’t even bother to change before you fall into the bed and drift off to sleep, your mind still reeling from all that’s happened in just one day…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written while listening to the ever-amazing band, _Chameleon Circuit_.


	4. Watching the Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Karkat retreats to the equestrian living quarters, Dave find himself feeling more than a bit guilty. On day five, he finally acts upon this guilt and goes off to talk to Karkat.

It’s been five days since Karkat retreated to the equestrian LQ. From stunt riders’ reports, he seems to be in a perpetually foul mood. You’re beginning to get the feeling that all of the spunk he had shown at first was merely the high he was riding after escaping from his father. Nevertheless, you feel that it’s worth trying to break through his shell.

You glance down at your watch. It’s about three in the morning. Considering that you won’t be likely to wake anyone or encounter and foreign danger at this hour (as well as the fact that you just can’t go the fuck back to sleep) you decide that now is the best time to go. You slip on some cleaner clothes, picking out a comfy red plush suit (you have no clue there it came from) and black pants for the occasion. Once you’re ready, you brace yourself. Then, you slide open the car door. The roar of wind rushing past the speeding train fills your ears, and the smell of the smoke being whipped back from its funnel fills your nose.

For several minutes you make no attempt to grab the ladder which leads to the roof of the car. You've never been fond of this. No matter how many times Bro told you that you weren't going to fall or that it was completely safe, you just couldn't get over the fact that you’re moving on the outer shell of a speeding locomotive. One slip or tiny mistake could and would kill you…

Finally, you take a deep breath and grip the ladder. As you transfer all your weight to it, you use your free hand to slam the door shut. Then, you carefully make your ascent to the top of the train. Once you’re there, you nervously hop from car to car.

After what seems like forever, you reach the roof hatch leading to the equestrian lounge. You force the iron door up and jump in before it has a chance to slam shut on you. As you enter, however, you make sure to grab onto the inner handle (a trick which Bro taught you so that you didn't have to keep climbing up to shut the hatch after you entered a cart from above). Your weight slams the door closed and, as soon as you release your grip from the handle, you land on your feet with a resounding, dull _thud_.

Upon landing, you hear a disgruntled groan. “How the fuck did you even get in here, you disgusting imbecile?”

“The roof,” you reply with a shrug.

Another moan comes from the figure curled up on the sofa. “That’s just really fucking nice. I’ll give you a motherfucking golden star for that later. Now get the hell out of here and, please, be sure to hit your stupid ass on the door on the way out.”

“How about I ask why the fuck you’re being such an asshole to everyone?” You fold your arms and lean against the wall as you wait for a reply.

Karkat sighs and leans over. After a bit of fumbling, he manages to switch on that creepy-ass horse lamp. “In case you didn’t know, I’m normally a huge asshole. I’m the hugest douchebag I know of. Now, you have your fucking answer. Leave.”

“I’m not going that easily,” you reply shortly. “If you’re not going to talk about your own petty problems, at least tell me why the fuck you won’t stop sulking around in a public carriage. The equestrian crew is getting pretty pissed.”

“Why should any of you care? Just leave me the fuck alone and I won’t bother you. Dammit, I’ve said that umpteen times. JUST. LEAVE. ME. ALONE,” he snaps.

You sigh and look down at your watch. You must have taken more time than you thought getting to this carriage, because it’s almost time for sunrise. “Look… This screaming and throwing a fucking huge tantrum isn’t going to fix anything. How about we try and sit and talk this out reasonably?”

Karkat rolls his eyes at you before breathing a defeated sigh. “Fine. We can try to talk all this shit out. Whatever the hell you want and –” His voice trails off as he notices you sliding the door to the LQ open. “What the hell do you think you’re doing!? Are you fucking insane!?”

“It’s almost sunrise, and it’s pretty neat to see when the train’s moving. That’s all. You can stay where you are, but I’m sitting in front of the door,” you reply with a shrug.

He frowns and turns away. His back faces the door, and his head is tucked between his knees. “Whatever,” he mumbles under his breath.

You swaer you can hear his voice shaking. “You okay?” you mutter.

He looks up at you and raises a brow. “Why the fuck should you care?”

“I don’t know,” you reply honestly.

The red-orange sun begins to appear against the horizon. A moment of strangely relaxing silence hangs between both of you as the clouds begin to turn shades of vibrant red and yellow. Once you’ve seen enough of the spectacle, you stand up and close the door. Then, on impulse, you sit down next to Karkat.

He looks up at you in shock. It’s as if he’s never had anyone want to talk to him before. At least, that’s what it seems like to you…

“Why are you so interested in me, you asshole? All I am to you is a lucrative oddity to be shoved under a canvas tent and exhibited for five fucking cents,” he growls. He’s trying to be threatening, but there’s something in his voice counteracting his attempt.

“If I had a dollar for every time someone has claimed that they’re walking money to me, I’d be pretty damned rich,” you snort. “Also, if I were using you for just the money, I would have red-lighted you the day you came on board.”

He looks at you with his head cocked slightly to the left.

“Besides, if you were just money, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now. You’re at least ten cars down from mine. Why would I bother jumping all these cars to get here?”

In reply, Karkat begins to thoughtfully chew on his lip.

You assume at this point that the best thing for you to do is leave him to his thoughts. As you rise from the sofa, however, you feel his long, thin fingers wrap around your wrist. You turn around and notice him glancing down at the floor.

Aside from his hand around your wrist, nothing else about him indicates what he wants from you. He isn’t making any effort to verbally express himself, and his gaze is downright enigmatic. “Do you want me to stay here, then?” you ask quietly.

He silently nods and lets go of your wrist. His now-watery eyes dart to the space on the sofa you’d been sitting in moments earlier, and you reclaim your seat.

As soon as you get comfortable, Karkat inches closer to you. He rests his head on your shoulder, which causes his soft white hair to bristle against your cheek with each silent sob that escapes him. In return, you gently wrap your arm around him. As you do so, you do something that Bro always does for you when you get upset. You hum.

You don’t know the song, and you’re guessing he doesn’t, either. But you know the tune. You’ve heard it from Bro so many times that it’s engrained in your brain. With each note, Karkat seems to grow a bit calmer. Eventually, his sobs subside. Even after he’s stopped crying, however, you keep humming (just like Bro does). After some time, he falls into a calm slumber.

You debate getting up, but finally decide against it. It’s just too comfortable… 

Slowly but surely, you begin to drift off to sleep. Before your mind retreats to the realm of dreams, however, you glance at Karkat. You look at his slightly crooked nose and his messy white hair; and, somehow, you find the last bits of your waking mind thinking only of him. The last thing you think of before you fall asleep is the smile (the first genuine one you’ve seen from him, actually) traced upon his face, and of his warm hand resting on your knee…


	5. Middle of Nowhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat and Dave start to form a decent neutral relationship during a three day period of no-drama. Well... They were starting to...

_Bang._

The quiet but unusual sound rouses you from your sleep. You look around and wonder where you are. It takes you a few minutes, but you finally remember that Bro kicked you out of your room and into the caboose while he made some rennovations to your train car.

You listen carefully for several seconds. Nothing sounds out of character, and you dismiss the noise with a shrug before attempting to go back to sleep.

_Bang!_

It’s much louder this time. Karkat (having taken up lodging with you) reacts before you do this time.

“SWEET MOTHER OF COCKCHAFING SHIT. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?” he yelps.

“I don’t – ”

_BANG!_

The final sound interrupts your shitty explanation and rings ominously in your ears. You feel the train car slowing down and, eventually, coming to a stop. You relax and let forth a nervous laugh. “It must have just been a mechanical glitch. I guess the train’s stopped now to check it out,” you mumble uncertainly.

“You’re a lying fuck,” Karkat mumbles. “The train is still going.”

“What!?” Your gaze flashes back towards Karkat and you shove him out of his spot on the caboose cupola, barely noticing the fact that he narrowly manages to land on the safety mat. Why would you? You’re far too busy staring at the rapidly fading lights from the rest of the train. “No! Fuck! No!” you yelp as you throw open the door and stumble out of the car.

“DAMMIT! WHY HAVEN’T THEY NOTICED WE GOT SEPARATED!?” you grumble as you make a vain dash after the train. Sure, you know it’s a lame attempt that will never get you anywhere. But you have no other choice. At least… you don’t think you do. After about a good ten yards, you finally stop and stare in shock as the lights of the place you call home disappears around the corner.

“They’ll notice soon enough.”

You spin about on your heel and notice Karkat approaching. “Yeah…” you mutter anxiously. “They will. I’m sure they’ll come back before sunrise…”

Karkat sighs and rolls his eyes at you before grabbing you by the shoulder. His grip is surprisingly gentle, and the warmth of his hand calms you down a bit. “Why don’t we go back and wait in the caboose until they come…”

The shriek of train horns pierces the air. You look hopefully towards the direction your train disappeared in, only to hear a loud crash. Something grazes against your foot, and you look down to find a section of the caboose – no, _your_ caboose – on the ground.

Your mind can’t handle it. Whatever microscopic grain of calm you had is gone. You’ve been left behind in the middle of nowhere by the circus you’re slotted to inherit. No one noticed and, as far as you’re concerned, no one cared. Not surprisingly, after the reality of the situation you’re in hits you, you do a not-so-graceful fucking pirouette off the mental handle and pass out.  
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••  
“What the fuck, dude!?” you yell as a good deal of freezing cold water hits you in the face. “Like, seriously. That was a fucking shit thing to do, you asshole. What even necessitated that!?”

“Well,” Karkat mumbles in mock thought. “You’ve been fucking PASSED OUT FOR AT LEAST THREE HOURS.”

“I doubt that,” you mutter indignantly.

“Maybe you’d like to take a good look around, you shitbrained asswipe. Or maybe this cave just fucking decided to sprout of the ground and cover us.”

Cave? You hesitantly begin to process the information pertaining to your current location. The pasture you’d been standing in after the train left is gone, and you’re surrounded by shadowy stone walls. Rain pounds against the rock above you, and the only light comes from a poorly made and only halfway maintained fire near the centre of the semi-spacious area. “So… Could you mind telling me where we are!?”

“In a cave, dumbass. But if you really want to know how you got here… I dragged your unconscious fat ass with me after I found this cave. Do you want me to explain where rain comes from, now? Because right now, it’s coming from the tears my brain is shedding over how fucking stupid you are,” Karkat snaps in reply.

“Dude… That’s pretty damned harsh…” you reply quietly.

“Oh. So you want me to sugar-coat your stupidity,” Karkat sneers.

You try to think of a reply to his retort. But you can’t. All you can think of is how it’s just you and him. It’s just you and him, alone, in a cave, in the middle of fucking nowhere… Your mind is focused on how his eyes reflect the light of the flickering fire; how his lips move with each word.

“Well…? Are you going to answer, you moronic excuse for a sentient being?”

By now, you’re not thinking anything through. You’re just being downright impulsive. Without any second thoughts or considerations, you suddenly press your lips against his. His eyes widen in shock, and it only takes him a second to shove you away from him.

“THAT WAS FUCKING DISGUSTING! If I had some with me, I’d be washing my mouth out with soap,” he stammers.

His reaction snaps you out of your passionate trance. You open your mouth to say something, but no words form. Instead, you nervously try approaching him.

“Fuck off, you insufferable arrogant prick,” he snarls. To your surprise, he grabs you by the front of your shirt as he says this and returns your gesture of affection. Afterwards, however, he quickly shoves you away with a rather convincing glare.

“Karkat…” you begin to speak, only to have him turn his back to you. He stuffs his hands into his pockets and offers you only a cursory glance before casually wandering out of the cave.

“Karkat!” you call as you run to the entrance to the cave. “Karkat?” No matter how hard you look, you can’t find him, and you’re not willing to go out in the rain like he is. Defeated, you trudge back into the warmth of the fire. With few things to do, you eventually end up spreading your coat out on the floor and falling asleep. Perhaps he’ll be back by the time you wake up… Maybe Bro will be there, too. That would be amazing…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter while listening to an endless loop of _Howl's Moving Castle_ (the soundtrack) and _La Cage Aux Folles_. This is probably a sign that I should get my brain evaluated by a monkey or something.


	6. Thunder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A storm disturbs Dave's sleep, and provides a nice bonding moment forth him and Karkat. The following morning, however, Karkat is unusually moody. (Also, I suck as summaries because I write ridiculously short chapters...)

You wake up to the sound of rain pounding against the rocks above you, and the roar of thunder echoing through the cave. Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgod. It’s storming. 

You hate storms. You’ve never told anyone about it, because you’ve always through that it made you uncool. Not to mention the fact that you always had Bro with you. He’d calm you down by humming to you or distracting you with one of those derpy fights he always has with you. Now, however, he’s not here. Right now, you’re huddled in the corner of the cave with your hands over your ears.

 _Bam!_ A bolt of lightning lights up the entire cave while the accompanying thunder shakes the ground. You let forth a quiet whimper, only for it to be carried away by another explosion of thunder. Just as you’re about to completely lose your cool, however, you hear something. You hear quiet humming. You feel a surprisingly gentle hand on your shoulder and, when you turn to look, you see Karkat.

When he realises that you’ve noticed him, he responds with an awkward and, somehow, reassuring smile. Then, he continues humming. Sure, he’s wildly off key and insanely bad at keeping the beat; but, you appreciate the effort. Actually, you find it somewhat calming.

In fact, it’s not long after he begins that you feel comfortable enough to rest your head against his chest. He seems hesitant at first, but is quick to adjust. Soon afterwards, you find yourself asleep in his arms…  
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••  
You awake again several hours later. The storm has blown over, leaving behind the smell of wet dirt and worms. You also realise that your head no longer rests against Karkat’s chest. Instead, you find a pillow which, if you still have so much of an ounce of sanity left (which you do), you would swear is made of Karkat’s wadded-up jacket. After wondering how Karkat could have possibly gotten away from you without you waking up, you let forth a quiet yawn.

For the first time since you’ve arrived, you can finally examine the cave. You notice, first and foremost, the strangely smooth walls and floor. It’s almost as if someone had conveniently placed this cave in the middle of a random-ass field so that you’d eventually have a great place to make out with Karkat. (You also wonder where the hell such a thought came from; and, why there is such an interest, at least in this story, with viciously murdering the fourth wall.)

“Nice to see you finally woke up, Sleeping Shitbag.” The voice pulls you from your world of strange thought. You glance up and find Karkat leaning against the wall. Not surprisingly enough, his jacket is missing. His pale arms are folded across his chest, and his long, thin fingers seem to pensively tab against his arm.

“How long have I been asleep?” you mumble groggily.

“About eight hours. You don’t wake up for fucking anything. Anything. I swear. I could have fucked you over twenty times and you wouldn't budge. Goddamn, how the fuck do you do that!?” Karkat replies. A smile flickers briefly across his face.

You respond to his colourfully worded (to put it lightly) answer with a smirk and a shrug. “How long have _you_ been awake?”

“Maybe an hour,” he grumbles.

“So I take it you slept well?” you laugh.

“Are you insinuating that you’re the reason I slept well?” Karkat mumbles.

“WOW. I never thought of that,” you counter sarcastically.

“Yes, because having your goddamn fat head pressing uncomfortably into my chest just made me sleep like a fucking baby. And I love how your hand ended up on my ass. How the fuck did that even happen!?”

You make no reply. Instead, you simply force yourself to smile as innocently as possible. There was no way you were going to tell him about the fact that…

“Whatever.” As per usual, his naturally loud voice slices through your thoughts like a knife slicing through peanut butter (which is far less clichéd than butter). “I don’t even know why I brought that up. Damn. Anyhow, I was thinking we could throw together a shitty little fire with the leftovers from the cart.” He gestures towards a small stack of wood resting beside the fire. “I dragged that back in here without your fucking help, by the way.”

Again, you reply silently. This time, you decide a simple nod will suffice.

“And now you’re probably fucking angry with me. Is that it? Are you angry at me? What the fuck did I do!? I DIDN’T FUCKING DO ANYTHING!” Having yelled these things loud enough to alert Japan about his predicament, he proceeds to pace back and forth.

Mostly because you don’t want to lose a head today, you decide to let him wind down on his own. Instead of replying, you quietly watch him stomp back and forth across your line of vision. This enraged stomping continues for at least half and hour. When he finally ends his little tantrum, he lets forth a defeated sigh and plops himself on the floor of the cave. Afterwards, he does something which actually (kind of) shocks you. He reaches into his jacket pocket, and pulls out a small paperback book. (Wow. That was what your head was hitting in the ‘pillow’…)

“Um… What the fuck is that?” you inquire curiously.

“What does it fucking look like?” he snaps as he waves it rapidly back and forth in the air. “It’s a book. Holy fucking shit, have you ever heard of one of those!? THEY’RE THESE THINGS. THAT YOU FUCKING READ. Holy. Fucking. Shit.”

“Okay. Okay. Stop. I can’t see the goddamned thing if you’re flailing it around in the air.” You grab his arm and hold it still long enough for you to at least figure out that it’s some freakish romance novel you’ve never heard of (well... you have now…).

“Great,” he growls as he rips his wrist from your grip. “Now that you’ve figured out what it is, can you leave me the fuck alone!?”

You reply with an exasperated shrug. Sure, you had to admit that you kind of liked Karkat. From what you know about him, he’s a pretty cool guy most of the time. The only problem is when he is, like right now, being a HUGE FUCKING ASSHOLE. 

“Whatever,” you snarl as you shove your hands into your pockets and wander outside of the cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This terrible update is brought to you by _Les Misérables_ (French Edition)!


	7. Broken Glass

It’s been three hours since you left Karkat with his freaky-ass romance novel. Well, that is according to your mostly unreliable watch. Under the assumption that Karkat’s calmed down enough to be fairly approachable, you wander back into the cave and look around. Curiously enough, you don’t seem to notice Karkat anywhere.

After a few more scans of the room, you cautiously call his name. “Karkat?” As you speak, you desperately try to push back the nagging feeling that something terrible has or is about to happen. However, the uneasy silence which replies to your calls does nothing to assuage those fears. You open your mouth to call out again, only to hear him reply.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, I’m fine you dumbass. I thought I was the one that couldn’t see worth shit around here.” For once, you’re relieved to hear his sarcastic snark. “I was looking at something. Don’t go flipping your shit like a fucking burger every time you don’t know where I am.” You feel him punch you in a seemingly affectionate way on the shoulder before noticing him wandering back to the spot he’d been reading at.

As he pulls out a pair of almost comically thick reading glasses, something catches your eye. Your gaze darts towards it, and it doesn’t take you long to realise it’s a shard of broken glass. Upon closer inspection, you notice blood colouring the tinted edge, and your gaze immediately darts towards Karkat.

As soon as he notices you, he shoves his left hand into his pocket and gives you one of his trademark “fuck off” glares. However, you completely ignore it (something you’re quite accustomed to doing now) and position yourself so that you’re between the fire – his only source of light aside from the cave entrance (which, without his shades, you’re certain he’s not going to resort to) – and his book.

“What the fuck do you want?” he growls at you. Despite his confident facial expression, you can hear the faintest hint of hesitancy in his voice.

“I noticed blood over there,” you reply honestly. “I wanted to know if you happened to know where it came from, because I’m pretty sure the cave doesn’t bleed.”

His gaze darts nervously to yours, then to the floor. In a way that seems more instinctive than voluntary, he digs his hand deeper into his pocket. “I don’t –”

“You’re lying,” you interject suddenly. His voice trails off into a slurred semblance of the word ‘why’, and you allow a smug smile to cross your face.

“No I’m not,” he barks back defensively – too defensively. Lie two.

You don’t point out the second lie. Instead, you jump straight to the most obvious conclusion. “Then why is your hand in your pocket?”

He doesn’t reply. Instead, he slowly dog-ears the page of his book and stuffs it into his pocket. Then, like a little kid hiding that nasty-ass box of melted Whoppers in his pocket, he pulls his sloppily bandaged hand out of his pocket. Unlike a child, however, he pointedly flips you the bird. “Why’s this your business, anyhow?”

You shrug your shoulders and step a bit closer for a better look. Judging by what you see (and the fact that he idiotically used a dirty bandage), it’s not the mildest injury you’ve ever seen. At the same time, though, you’ve seen more extreme (and vastly more disturbing) damage. Without any hesitation, you pull a small square box from your pocket. As you prepare to open it, however, you notice Karkat’s look of complete disgust.

“That’s a fucking sanitary napkin, you dumbass. Fuck. You’re not getting that shit anywhere near me,” he mumbles in a tone of mixed confusion and shock.

“Your point?” you reply while rolling your eyes. “It’s made to stop bleeding. Get the fuck over it, dude.” It takes you a minute to realise that you unintentionally quoted what Bro had said to you the first time you realised what he would occasionally use instead of a band-aid. You feel a twinge of grief at the mere thought of Bro, and you begin to fall back into that lonely state of self-pity you’d been stuck in for the first few days of this incident…

No. You’re not doing that again. You shove the thoughts to the back of your mind and focus on the task at hand. You quickly slip off the bloodied bandage and toss it aside before taking out the absorbent cloth pad and wrapping it around the wound. You apply gentle pressure to stop the little bleeding which remains before carefully wrapping the wound.

“There.” You give the bandage one last, firm tug to assure yourself that it’s properly in place. “You’re fine. That wasn’t so bad, now, was it?”

He shrugs in reply. “Not really,” he murmurs. His voice is hoarse from habitual yelling and, interestingly enough, it’s lost its typical scathing tone. “How the fuck did you know I was lying, anyways?”

You reply with a confident smirk. “Bro taught it to me. And you tend to chew your lip when you lie.”

“I… What?” Confused. That’s the best way you could probably describe the open-mouthed look he’s giving you. “How the flying fuck do you even…?”

You prepare to answer, only to be silenced by a dismissive wave of his hand and a mumbled, “Yeah. Actually. Never mind. Just let me read my book. I’m almost done.”

“Okay, dude…” The reply is unnecessary, seeing as he’s too engrossed in his book to care. Nonetheless, you can’t help but feel a bit of satisfaction at getting the last word about anything with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late updates. My muse keeps dying. And, by dying, I mean it insists upon violently throwing itself off the top of the Hogwart's astronomy tower.


	8. Aphrodisia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been two weeks since Karkat and Dave were accidentally left behind by the circus. Two weeks without any human interaction outside of talking to each other. Two weeks with each other, alone.

“It’s been two weeks since we were left here.”

You look up from the hunk of wood you’re whittling away at and glance towards Karkat. “What?”

“Two weeks,” he repeats flatly. “It has been two weeks. Fourteen days. Who-the-fuck-cares how many hours. Would you like for me to break it down into bite-sized pieces for your infantile brain!?”

“I’m fine, dude. I just didn’t realise it had been that long…”

“Yeah. I’ve been marking off the days in my book,” he shrugs and holds up the pencil he’d brought with him. “And you, I assume, have been picking your nose and eating whatever snotballs you find this whole time.”

You can’t help but smirk at his comments. By now, you’ve learned to shrug them off. Half the time, they’re not even really insults. They’re just Karkat being himself. “Of course I have. But how many times have you read that shitty old novel since we’ve been here?”

His cheeks turn a shade of pink, bringing a rare splash of colour to his usually pale face. “Um…”

“My point exactly,” you laugh. You stuff the wood into your coat pocket and wander over to him, taking a seat to his left. “I’m surprised you only brought one, though.”

“I had more. But they kind of got run over by a GODDAMNED TRAIN,” he retorts indignantly.

Again, you roll your eyes. “Heh. Right.” You edge a bit closer to him, smirking when he momentarily shies away from you before relaxing against your shoulder.

“At least I have something to keep me occupied, you lazy asshole.” By now, the pink has faded from his cheeks and his eyes are half-closed. Whether or not he realises it, he’s leaning gently against your shoulder. Every time he breathes, strands of his striking white hair brush gently against your neck; and, despite all the shit you've both said to one another, you can’t help but admire him.

“Well at least I don’t spend all day doing nothing.” The insult is half-hearted and lame. You know that much. But you don’t care so much about that right now. Right now, your focus is on him.

You stare at his messy white hair. You marvel at the way the firelight reflects in his eyes.

“Yeah, well…” He doesn’t finish his statement. 

More than likely, he had some sort of strange insult for you. But you never give him the chance to finish. Instead, you grab the back of his head and pull him into a sloppy kiss.

As quickly as you had initiated the kiss, however, he ends it. He punches you squarely in the face, sending you sprawling onto the cave floor. “You’re a fucking unbelievable asshole, aren’t you?” He towers over you, scowling. You see his hand reach forward and grab your shirt, and he pulls you up so that you’re face-to-face with him. You fully expect him to punch you again, probably harder than last time. But he doesn’t. Instead, he pulls you into a surprisingly great kiss.

No. It’s not great. It’s the best you’ve ever had. Your time to ponder why and how he’s such an amazing kisser is cut short, however, as he moves so that his legs are wrapped around your waist. He lets go of your shirt and pulls away from you long enough to offer you a seductive grin and a raised brow.

You know what he wants and, in reply, you immediately lay back back onto the surprisingly smooth cave floor. You close your eyes as you feel him pulling off your pants (perhaps a bit too excitedly) and allow yourself to go along for whatever ride he wants to take you on.

Having had your full permission to do whatever he wants, he toys with you. He gives you what you want, then he moves to something different. He’s like a child on Christmas day, unsure of exactly what to play with first. But he’s far more deliberate. He knows what he’s doing. You can tell that much by the smirk spread plainly across his face whenever he looks at you.

Eventually, after who knows or cares how long, he manages to draw a muffled moan of pleasure from you. A clever flick of the tongue was all it took to end it, just like a kiss was all that started it. But you’re not complaining. Why would you?

What do you have to complain about…?

He interrupts your thoughts by spreading himself out on the cave floor beside you. His already dirty hair is now drenched in sweat, and a ring of warm, salty fluid surrounds his mouth…

…Sure, you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere. You don’t know where you are or when you’ll get back to Bro…

Again, he intrudes on your musings. He wraps his arm around you and pulls you closer to him. He gently runs his fingers through your hair, and each of his breaths caresses the back of your neck. “You know what?” he whispers into your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

“What?” you reply hesitantly, afraid of ruining the moment. The thoughts of all the things wrong with your life have, for the moment, subsided. The doom and gloom which tends to creep in the back of your mind is silence by reflections on how perfect the world is right now. You can only enjoy being in his arms and having his warm body against yours…

You hear a distant rumble of thunder. No… You _ignore_ the distant rumble of thunder. You’re no longer worried about the storm. You're no longer worried about _any_ storm.

You have him…

Rain begins to beat gently against the rocks above you, and water drips slowly from several points in the rocky roof above you. The temperature drops, but you don’t really notice. He’s keeping you warm, and you’re doing the same for him; and, with your body nestled against his, and your head tucked beneath his chin, you both fall into a peaceful slumber.


	9. Dreams and Life

“Well you sure got comfy with him, didn’t you, lil’ dude?” 

You let forth a muted yelp of shock at the sound of the familiar voice. No… It couldn’t… And, yet, it was... Bro. His figure is outlined against the light streaming through the cave mouth, and you can almost feel the smirk you’re sure he has on his face. “How did you…!?”

“You honestly think I’d leave you behind?” Bro laughs and kneels down beside you, pushing your chin so that your eyes (or, more appropriately, shades) meet. “Really, lil’ dude?”

“I…” I hesitate. Honestly, you did. While you loved Bro and would put your life in his hands without second thought, you do have to admit that he’s not the best caretaker. But you’re not going to tell him that. “No, not really…” you lie.

He lets forth another quiet chuckle before glancing towards Karkat. “Who started it? You or him?”

“Well…” Oh god. What is he asking you this…!?

A wild grin begins to creep onto Bro’s face. “Don’t lie. I know you did.” He studies you for a moment before folding his arms and quite confidently declaring, “You did!” You can tell by the look on his face that he’s about to ask another question, but you have to get yours in first.

“Why didn’t you come here earlier!?” Your voice sounds more hurt and accusatory than you mean for it to, and you can see his smirk immediately fading to a nervous frown. “If you knew where we were…?”

“I didn’t actually know where you were. I guessed. And it took a while for me to sneak away from the rest of the guys…” he replies quietly. “And, I mean, the important thing is that I came, right?”

You let forth a slightly annoyed sigh before taking a moment to think about it. At least for now, you’re too tired and relieved to bother with anything but as casual a shrug as you can muster. “Yeah… I guess so…”

The grin quickly returns to Bro’s face and he slaps you hard on the back, knocking your shades crooked in the process. “That’s what I like to hear, dude. So… I’m guessing you’re ready to hook back up with the troupe, aren’t you?”

As he speaks, his voice begins to waver slightly. The reality you’d built up in your head crumbles, and you come to the realisation that it was a dream. You let forth an agitated sigh and push yourself back to your feet.

This is the fourth time you’ve had this dream. The fourth time in only five days... What was your brain trying to tell you?

You look about the cave, a smile playing at your lips as you notice Karkat sleeping near the fire. His hand is healing nicely and, through shared effort, you’ve both managed to turn the drab cave into a semblance of a home. You’ve used carefully harvested fur and brush to make beds, and you’ve even created pillows from whatever you could find…

Maybe it’s not as bad as it seems, you muse. You shove your hands into your pockets and wander outside, watching as a train flies past you on the nearby tracks. As you’re about to return inside, however, you hear something you haven’t heard in quite a while. You hear the rustling of paper. You look around, trying to find the source, and finally pinpoint it as a fragmented news page.

You can only see a portion of the headline. “Circus train wreck”…

No…

This wasn’t happening…

You kneel down and frantically snatch the paper from the ground, scanning what bits of the article survived.

_The fragmented remains of the popular circus troupe train… floating in the river yesterday…_

You stare blankly at the picture of the recovered remains of the train car, unsure exactly what you’re supposed to feel. You’ve lost everyone you’ve ever bothered to call “family”, but you’ve gained a new lifestyle and friend…

You nervously chew on your lip and think for a few minutes. You muse about the train wreck, and the nagging hunger that’s been plaguing you for the past few days.

Eventually, you silently fold the paper up and shove it into your coat pocket. You managed to salvage a few animals from the traps you and Karkat had set last night, and return to the warmth of the cave.

“Hey, stupid…” You gently nudge Karkat awake with one hand, the other holding a freshly prepared hunk of meat. “…Found some food for once…”

His eyes slowly flutter open, and one of those rare smiles crosses his face as he grabs the food from you. “Great. I’ve been fucking starving,” he mumbles through outrageously large mouthfuls of food. “And what about you?”

“I’ve already eaten. Don’t worry about it,” you mumble as you unconsciously shove the news article deeper into your coat pocket. There’s no need to worry Karkat about things like that now. Why bother him with things such as that? He’s finally settled in to what you’ve come to accept as regular life. In fact, you think you’ve taken a warming to this new lifestyle as well… Why worry him about things like that? For now, you had him. And, really, that’s all that matters to you…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY WRAPPING THIS UP. ~~PRAISE WHATEVER DEITY OR NON-DEITY DOES NOT OFFEND YOU~~.


End file.
